Ageless Passions by Karen Putz

Tag: computers

  • Bryen M. Yunashko, IT Consultant

    Bryen M. Yunashko is known as Yuko to his friends. For the last nine years, Bryen has been self-employed as a consultant in the IT field, specializing in open source software, especially Linux. “I focus on server set ups, file systems, email management, and desktop management,” Bryen explained. “At any given time, day or night, I could be discussing a project with developers in China, Europe, India, the U.S., anywhere.”

    Bryen was recently elected to the openSUSE Community Board and is probably the first ever Deaf-Blind member of a Linux-based board. “I started using Linux some years ago after I got frustrated with some of the restrictions and limitations I faced on Windows. I also ran for board because I wanted to ensure that accessibility users also have a strong voice in the open source world.”

    Bryen is actively involved in working with developers and packagers in making sure that all Linux-based software is accessible for people with disabilities. “I’m an active member and leader of the GNOME A11y Team,” Bryen said. “GNOME is a desktop environment in Linux and ‘A11y’ (A plus 11 letters plus y spells accessibility) stands for accessibility in computing. By getting into A11y, I’m taking charge of my own destiny. I want to be able to be sure I can continue to work with computers as long as I live.”

    As a child, Bryen attended the St. John School for the Deaf until it was closed in 1983 and then transferred to a high school in Evanston. “Roycemore was a challenge for me,” said Bryen. “After eight years living at St John’s, this was a complete life change and culture shock for me at a young age. Not only was it more challenging in school, but the sudden loss of my Deaf family due to the closing was traumatic for me.”

    Bryen was diagnosed with Usher’s Syndrome Type II in his mid-twenties. He has some central vision that allows him to view a computer screen, but no peripheral vision. During our interview, I asked Bryen, “What do you use to access the internet?”

    “I use a computer!” he joked.

    Ah, I walked right into that one.

    “I use a large screen, 24-inch monitor and Linux is good about having built-in accessibility so I can resize what I need properly,” he explained.

    Bryen entered college at the young age of sixteen, attending Gallaudet and California State University at Norridge. After college, he became involved with the Deaf Entertainment industry in Los Angeles and then worked in Database Management for UCLA. He left college before obtaining his degree, but hasn’t ruled out the possibility of pursuing formal education again. “There’s always continuing education, especially in the IT field. It is a never-ending challenge.”

    What did your parents do right, when they were raising you? I asked Bryen.

    “What a loaded question,” he said, with a smile. “I think the two things that stand out is that my parents always tried to ensure I had the best education possible, and my father, even at a young age, always engaged me in conversation about current events. I’ve had a love and appreciation for that ever since.”

    Bryen has some advice to share with deaf and hard of hearing students who are considering career choices:

    Keep your options open. Don’t focus so hard on just one career goal. Make sure you have diverse knowledge and awareness in multiple fields. The career of your choice today may not exist tomorrow and being well-rounded is key to sustaining yourself in the long run.

    More about Bryen:

    Bryen Yunashko’s Professional Website

    Chat with Bryen

    Interview with Bryen and the OpenSUSE Board

    The OpenSUSE Board Speaks

    OpenSUSE Elects Community Board

  • Lenny Kepil, Computer Engineer

     

    When I asked Lenny Kepil to tell me about his job as an Engineer at Tellabs, my brain cells became tied up in knots when he explained what he does. 

    The product that I support at Tellabs is an Optical Transport Switch,” said Lenny. “The system is designed to take a variety of subrate circuits (existing optical signals moving at a rate less than the line-side and transport them to their destination on a  fiber line divided into 44 channels.  Likewise, the destination system will receive and distribute the channels back into individual subrate signals towards their final destination.  The system is currently used with the new FiOS Internet/Broadband TV program at Verizon.”

    Let’s put it this way:  Lenny makes sure that all aspects of the system are operating properly in a network.

    When Lenny was growing up, he struggled in school. “Since I was not a child of the ‘internet age,’ my parents relied on doctors, teachers, church, and family members to decide how to handle my hearing loss in regards to my education,” said Lenny.

    Lenny was placed in his local school with basically no support services.  He was described by his teachers as aloof and not paying attention.  The teachers suspected that he had a learning disability and a short attention span.

    Totally frustrated one day, his Mom vented to a woman while at the grocery store.  Another woman overheard the conversation and suggested that she take Lenny to the Chicago Hearing Society for an evaluation.  The tests showed that Lenny’s IQ was just fine and hearing tests showed that he was deaf—not hard of hearing.

    Lenny transferred to a junior high that had a program for deaf students but he continued to lag behind and his grades were still low.  “Since my sister was a straight-A student, I started to shut down because all I heard was ‘You have to do better, high school is next year, you’ll never go to college, etc.,’” said Lenny.

    Lenny’s grades improved in high school and his parents and teachers encouraged him to consider college.  Lenny refused—he decided that he didn’t want to deal with any more schooling after such a long struggle to learn through the years.  His parents gave him an ultimatum: go to NTID at the Rochester Institute of Technology or get a job and move out.

    Lenny decided to pursue Data Processing at NTID, but discovered that he didn’t qualify to get into NTID, because he “lacked the necessary skills to succeed.”  Phone calls from his parents and teachers were enough to get him into NTID on a probationary status.

    Of the 93 students that entered the same time that Lenny did, only three of them graduated with A.A.S. degrees. 

    Lenny was one of them.  Lenny went on to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree from Rochester Institute of Technology and a Master’s degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology.  He worked for Lucent Technology for almost 23 years before moving on to Tellabs.

    So if you’re struggling in school and thinking that college is an unreachable path—just think of Lenny and know that you too, can succeed.